Never count out Deborah Vance. In a stunning upset, Max’s original comedy Hacks beat out the heavy favorite and reigning champion The Bear to win the outstanding comedy trophy at the Emmys 2024.
“I have no thoughts in my brain,” said Hacks co-creator Paul W. Downs when accepting the award. The visibly shocked Downs went on to thank his cast and crew before shouting out the importance of having elder representation on television. “Twenty percent of our population is over 60, but only 3% of our characters on screen,” he said. “I am a great young supporting actor, but I really want want to be a good old lead.”
Coming off six Emmy wins for its first season, including outstanding comedy series, lead actor for Jeremy Allen White, supporting actor for Ebon Moss Bachrach, and supporting actress for Ayo Edebiri, season two of The Bear seemed almost insurmountable heading into Sunday’s Primetime Emmys. However, soft reviews for The Bear‘s third season, which came out right when the Television Academy began voting for The Bear‘s second season, coupled with raves for Hack‘s third season—which found Jean Smart‘s aging comedian Deborah Vance recommitting to her dream of hosting a late night television program—proved to be too much for The Bear to handle.
This was the first time Hacks and The Bear faced off at the Emmys, as Hacks was on hiatus when The Bear‘s first premiered due to a delay in production on Hack‘s third season caused, in part, by Smart’s heart procedure in February of 2023. Their first face-off, at first, seemed to be a blowout, with Allen White and Ebon Moss-Bachrach repeating in the lead actor and supporting actor comedy category. The Bear seemed even more unstoppable when Liza Colón-Zayas took home her first Emmy for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series against stiff competition from acting legends like Meryl Streep, Carol Burnett, and Hacks‘s own Hannah Einbinder.
But when Smart won her third Emmy for lead actress, besting Edebiri’s sous chef Sydney Adamu, who made the move from supporting actress to lead actress between seasons one and two, it was clear that the race was still on. An outstanding writing for a comedy series win for Hacks star and co-creator Paul W. Downs and his wife, co-creator Lucia Aniello ,coupled with an outstanding direction win for The Bear creator Christopher Storer‘s seminal Christmas episode “Fishes,” made clear that it was a coin toss as to who would prevail in the biggest comedy race of the night.
In the end, the dishes Carmy and Sydney served up were no match for the comedic stylings of Vance and Ava. While accepting the trophy, Aniello highlighted the importance of comedy and teased that a fourth season of Hacks was imminent. “It can bridge divides. It speaks truth to power. Support your local comedian,” said Anniello. “We have other go, because we start shooting the next season in five days.”
More Great Stories From Vanity Fair
See Every Emmys Red Carpet Look
. . . And the Very Best-Dressed Stars
The Full List of 2024 Emmy Winners
Why Shōgun Made a Historic Showing at This Year’s Emmys
How Baby Reindeer Became an Unlikely Front-Runner
The post Hacks Gets the Last Laugh, Upsets The Bear for Best Comedy at Emmys 2024 appeared first on Vanity Fair.